random posts

Monday, 3 December 2018

The neuroscience world was intrigued but restrained when it was suggested last month that errant and overlooked interlopers in post-mortem grey matter could suggest that like our constellation of gut flora and fauna, that our brains and perhaps entire nervous system might indeed need to maintain a symbiosis with beneficial bacteria for optimal cognition, just like a sanitised stomach is bad for good digestion. Nautilus Magazine interviews veteran researcher Rosalinda Roberts, whose searched for organic signs of schizophrenia for over three decades—discounting the possible signs of the microbiome until just now as their presence runs very much counter to conventional wisdom—and explores the implications the finding, if confirmed, has for mental and physical well-being as well as for the science of the mind and the nature of consciousness.